Obama in his element on TV

Conservatives are predictably appalled, but not since John F. Kennedy oozed youth and charisma on television has a president made such effective use of new media.

Barack Obama's appearance this week on a popular Internet comedy show was intended to lure the elusive millennials to his health care website. Or, as host Zach Galifianakis described it, "the thing that doesn't work."

Obama was amusing on the show and his website saw increased traffic. Listen to the likes of O'Reilly and Limbaugh, however, and you'd think the president's decision to trade barbs during a silly six-minute parody had single-handedly empowered Vladimir Putin to invade Poland.

Fox television host Bill O'Reilly promoted the conservative narrative that the virile Russian president views Obama as a lightweight. O'Reilly also maintained that Abe Lincoln never would have gone on the show, presumably because he was too busy freeing the slaves and the Internet had yet to be invented.

"Mr. Obama is quick, has a good sense of humor, those are assets," O'Reilly acknowledged. "But he needs to be aware … of how his enemies perceive him, because I believe the testing of America is just getting started."

Sounds dire, a decided contrast to the online parody show "Between Two Ferns," in which Galifianakis asks rude and awkward questions of celebrity guests. The format didn't change for Obama and he managed to work in a few zingers of his own, most of them likely scripted. But hey, lots of it was good banter:

Galifianakis: What is it like to be the last black president?

Obama: Seriously? What is it like for this to be the last time you ever talk to a president?

Galifianakis: Is it gonna be hard in two years when you're no longer president and people will stop letting you win at basketball?

Obama: How does it feel having a three-inch vertical?

Galifianakis: It's three-inch horizontal. Where are you planning on building your presidential library, in Hawaii or your home country of Kenya?

Of course, Obama isn't the first president to promote himself on a comedy show. Even Richard Nixon, not traditionally known as a pile of yucks, famously said "Sock it to me" on "Laugh-In." But the stakes are higher for Obama, because young people aren't flocking to sign up for health coverage under his trademark Affordable Care Act.

The pop culture gig may have helped. According to a tweet by HealthCare.gov, Tuesday's traffic to the site was almost 40 percent over Monday's traffic. More than 4.2 million people have signed up for insurance as of the end of February, while the goal is to enroll 7 million people by the March 31 deadline.

Speaking of Nixon, Obama's appearance on Tuesday came the day after the death in Worcester of author Joe McGinness, whose breakout book was "The Selling of the President," the story of media techniques used in Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. In Obama's case, perhaps we should call his latest strategy "The Selling by the President."

There's no harm in a president trying to appeal to young people through pop culture; it's not like they're watching the Sunday morning political talk shows. And it's pretty rich that conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh claim that Obama has demeaned the office of the president, when Limbaugh never misses a chance to demonize and degrade Obama.

Kennedy used his vigor and good looks to win supporters during the first televised presidential debate. More than a half century later, another president is using his humor and charm to win supporters on the Internet. Politicians sell. It's what they do. The smart ones use what they have, and change with the times.